Tobacco-stemming machine.



L. H. GBRDING & F. I. BILLINGS.

TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19, 1913. 1,113,115. Patented Oct. 6,1914.

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TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED AUG.19,1913.

' Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

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LOUIS HENRY GERDING AND FREDERICK I; BILLINGS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BALTIMORE. MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TOBACCO-STEMMING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

Application filed August 19, 1913. Serial No. 785,569.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS HENRY Genn- .[NG and F REDERIGK I. BILLINGS, citizens of the United States,'residing at Baltimore, Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Stemming Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to tobacco stemming machines of the general class in which stripping elements are provided between which the tobacco stems are drawn to have the leaves stripped therefrom, said stripping elements being covered with teeth analogous to the teeth used in card clothing.

One object of the invention is to provide such a form of tooth as will prevent the stripping elements from becoming clogged with portions of the leaves or stems, and particularly such a form of tooth as will c0- operate with a toothed clearing element which is rotated to make its-teeth effect the clearing action.

Another feature relates to means for throwing out the depending portion of a broken leaf befofe it reaches the stripping elements or the space through which the stripped blades are discharged from the stripping elements.

Another feature of our invention relates to the form of gripper bars which grip the stems of the tobacco leaves and draw them between the stripping elements.

Other important features will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional view through the stripping and clearing elements showing also the feed chains with their gripper bars; Fig. '2 is a front view ofa pair of gripper bars; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the gripper bars enlarged and slightly separated; Fig. 4 is an end view of the gripper bars; Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are enlarged views relating to the stripping teeth. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the machine, partly in side. elevation with the drive chains and other parts omitted; Fig. 8 is a view of the average size leaf Fig. 9 is a plan. view of the right hand portion of Fig. t5; Fig. 10 is a side view of the entire machine; Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are detail views relating to the construction of the stripper rolls. i

We employ as the stripping elements upper and lower rolls 1, 2, between which the tobacco stems are drawn by gripper bars 3 arranged in pairs and connected to the upper and the lower endless chains 4, 5. These chains travel in the direction of the arrow, Figs. 1 and 8, and the leaf is stripped from the stem by the teeth 6 on the stripping elements, which, during the stripping operation, we prefer to have stationary or substantially so, the stems bein drawn through between the relatively stationary teeth and the leaf collecting on the front side of' the rolls. After the stripping is done, the rolls are given a clearing action in the direction of the arrow X, so that the stripped leaf will be discharged. The teeth of each stripping element extend outwardly in substantially radial directions and each tooth includes two portions disposed at an obtuse angle to each other with the outer portion of the tooth so arranged that at the point where it engages with the leaves it is inclined in the direction of movement of the latter. As disclosed in the form of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings, the teeth are v formed in the shape of sta les, each branch or .arm of which extends or a certain distance outward, for instance, as far as the point Y, at which point the wire teeth. are bent and extend forwardly at an inclination to the line of draft of the stem, and in the direction of movement of the stem. In other words, and describing this inclination in respect to the direction of clearing movement of the stripping elements, it may be said that the stripping teeth incline back madly in respect to said direction of movement. By this construction the portions of the wire teeth lying between the points and the bend Y contact with the leaf at an, inclination, and the action of the teeth on the stem and leaf may be described as a wiping action rather than a digging action. This wiping action due to the leaf and stem working against the incline from the heel at Y toward the point of the tooth, while securing an eflicient stripping of the leaf from the stem, will prevent the leaf from passing deep into the spaces between the teeth, and

clogging or collecting at and around the base portions of thetecth. Furthermore, the leaf having collected on the front side of the rolls, as indicated in Fig. 1, an efi'ective clearing action will result from the rotation of the rolls in the arrow direction because of the rearward incline of the working ends of the teeth in respect to the direction of movement of the stripping element, producing a wiping action in relation to the collected leaf, and withdrawingtherefrom instead of having a tendency to dig into the leaf and force it.toward. the base ofthe teeth. Coiiperating with these stripping rolls we employ clearing rolls 7, the upper one lying in front of the upper stripperroll, and the lower one lying in rear of the lower stripping roll. These clearing rolls may be rotated continuously by any suitable means,-

an'example of which will be described hereinafter. In the particular form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, these clearing rolls, like the stripping rolls,have teeth which are bent intermediate-of their length and in the same direction as the teeth. of the stripping rolls or back- Ward in respect to the direction-of movement of'the'clearing rolls or elements. .These elements rotate in the arrow direction continuously, and by reason of the bend in the teeth said teeth will have a wipin action on the teeth of the stripping rolls, t e heels of the clearing teeth at 'w being in advance,

the direction of rotation, of the ends of the said clearing teeth. Their actionw'ill be to wipe the stripping teeth from their heels at r Y toward their points, and wipe away any articles of'leaf or stem which: may have edged between the stripping teeth. Any suitable ineans may be provided for se arating the stripping rolls at the time t at the gripper-bars pass betweenthem, so as to avoid-damage to the teeth; A particularly eficient mea'ns is disclosed-in the accompanying' drawings for this -'purpo'se,- in which the two stripping-elements are moved apart by means actuated from the lower set] otjehains' only; This means includes-rock'- ing elements-12 and 13, having arms engaging each other and additional arms engaging with the stripping'elem'ents. The rock element 12is" fixed to'ja'pin 10' from which-ah; arm!) extends forwardly, the 1at-=- tor being-provided along the lower edge of itsfreeend portion with an inclined surface norm'al'lylocated inthe path of strikers or rollers 11 arranged on the chain 5, substantially coincident withtlie gripping bars .3 carried thereby. As" a lower hair 3:..ap

" proachesthe strippingelements a strikeren force them together.

a stem is grasped i gages the inclined surface of the arm 9, and in the continued movement of the bar, and chain carrying the same, the free end of the arm 9 is forced up thereby rocking the pin 10, and therethrough the rocking elements 11 and 12 which act upon the strip ing elements and separate the same. W en this arm' is lifted by the roller another arm 12 connected to its pivot pin will be lifted to elevate the upper stripper roller and at the same time said arm 12 will operate another arm 13 also pivoted to the frame so that this will lower the other stripper element by bearing downon its shaft. This separating of the stripper elements takes place against the pressure of the springs I 14 tendin to The lifting and owering arms just described are duplicated on the other side of the machine and they act in-unison.

W'e prefer to reduce the thickness of the wire'forming the stripping teeth by-taking oil the side portions at'the points 15, thus providing flattened sides with rounded front edges for contact with the leaf and "stem, and leaving what may be termed cutting edges? at the points 15 and 1 5 to secure a better stripping actionthan can'be secured with a wire whichis cylindrical in cross section, it being understood that the wires are so p'ositioned that their fiat :sides lie in planes parallel with the vertical planes along which-the leaves-'aredrawn. The flattening ofthe sides ofthe wire may-be continued nearlytothe heels or bends of the teeth; Furthermore, the teeth are ground in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5, This tends to round the rear edges of the teeth,

construction the stems-which are gripped and 'extend'in adir'ection transverse to the gripper bars will be bent from straight form,

. and-"thus seeurely held by} the gripper parts.

The gripping surfaces may be serrated.

? 1n thegripper bars shown there is a substantiallyjsqu'are shoulder 3 at 1-7,; on the rear edge-ofithedower g'ri per-bar eratin T with a corresponding r ecess '18 and houlde 19 0a the" upper gripper bar. When the t is bent sharply over'the shoulder 17 bythe shoulder'IS and the convex-surface or the upper gripper bar and the stem is thusheld securely tofbe drawn between thestrip ingele'ments It'willbe observed-from Fig. 2 that the gripper bars are curved slightly longitudinally, or one of a complete revolution.

them is, so as to diverge from each other toward their ends. gripper bars to securely hold the stems at the various points along. their length, it be ing understood that the gripper bars are attached at their ends tothe chains and are pressed together by said chains and by hav ing the bars closer together at the center the gripping effect will be as strong here as at' the ends, notwithstandingthe greater distance the central gripping portions lie from the means which press them together; In order that the bars may be of the necessary strength and have maximum leaf gripping surfaces, and require the stripping rolls to be-out of stripping position for a minimum period during the passage thereof, the bars are tapered toward their trailing edges so that companion bars in clamping position substantially define a triangle with the base thereof vertically disposed and presented in the direction of feed of the leaves. The sides of the bars constituting the sides of the aforesaid triangle are preferably concave as shown in the accompanying drawings.

In order to bring all portions of the periphery of the stripping rolls into work for doing the stripping, we give the rolls a circumferential adjustment, that is to say,- when the rolls are rotated for their clearing action instead of givingthem an exact revo' lution which would bring the same set of teeth back to the stripping point for use again, we give the stripping rolls such a degree of rotation as will bring another set of teeth into action for stripping, for instance in the clearing action the rolls may be given a movement of a few degrees greater than a complete revolution, say 365 degrees instead of 360, so that each time the stripping rolls come to rest after the clearing action,another set of teethwill be pre sented in fixed relation for the stripping action. This may be accomplished simply by the difference in the driving and driven sprockets, that is to say,the driving sprockets may be of such a diameter or such a number of teeth in relation to the driven sprocket at the rolls as to give the rolls a a half or a full inch additional revolution or it may be proportioned to give a movement less than We have provided means for se arating what may be termed droppers- Tom the good leaves as they are fed to the stripper rolls, these droppers' consisting of leaves having broken stems or stems whichare so weak that they will break off as they are be ing drawnbetween the stripping elements and which would fall down into the pile of stripped-blades and require separation by an attendant if, some provision were not made,

to prevent their conuningling with the good blades. For this purpose we arrange at a This will enable the little distance in advance of the stripping elements a separator consisting, in the particular construction shown, of a roller 20 having peripheral projections, the roll being, rotated in the direction of the arrow to cause its upper portion to move backward in respect to the direction of movement of the leaf as it is drawn. to or between the stripping elements, so that should any stem break or a leaf come along with a broken stem the bristles of the separating brush or roll will hold back that portion of the leaf in rear of the break and cause its separation from the rest of the leaf and stem being drawn between the stripping rolls and the discharge of this. portion in rear of the break will then be accomplished by the sep arating roll, throwing this portion rearward into a chute or into a pile separate from the good blades from which the stem has been stripped. This separating roll is provided with a shield on its forward side at 21.

As shown herein the peripheral projections of the separating elements are in the form of bristles inclined, as indicated, to have a wiping action on the leaf and they are preferably of fiber or stifl' hair to have a softer action on the leaf than the card clothing or stripping teeth which are of metal. The average length of a leaf is shown in "Fig. 8, from which it will be noticed that it will reach from the stripper teeth back over the separating roll to be acted on thereby should it break at an intermediate point in its length. In order that the leaves may be properly alined'prior to the engagement thereof by the gripping bars, a gate, or gageplate, machine which broadly considered in respect to its mode of operation and function performed, is not unlike the gage plates employed in various machines, as for instance in paper feeding and in folding machines. The illustrated manner of arranging this plate and the'means for supporting and operating the same are however, believed to be novel and are particularly effective. As shown in the accompanying drawings, the gate is vertically disposed, and moves in a direction transverse to the path of move ment of the grip ing bars in conveying the leaves from the eed table to the stripping elements, and is carried by a pair of arms 24 pivoted at corresponding ends- 26 below and contiguous to the path: of movement of the leaves, and havingupward and rearwardly extending freeends with portions intersecting the-path of movement of bars 3 on the lower chainsn5. Pintles project from the opposite ends of the gate, adjacent the upper edge thereof, into grooves or slots 25 inthe inner faces'of the arms .24 and pro vide a slidingpivotal connection-between the ate and arms carrying the same, and the I ower free end ofjthe gate depends through is provided at the front of the a narrow slot in the table 24: A spring 27 tends to hold the arm 24 against a fixed stop and the gate in an elevated leaf arresting position. 'As a bar 3 of the chains 5, moves toward a leaf engaging position it engages the described intersecting portions of the arms 24 and depresses the latter, which carry the gate down and out of the path of movement of the leaves, whereupon the-batch of leaves which has been alined by the gate, is free to be carried forward by the gripping bars to and between the stripping elements. The gate is maintained down and entirely out of operative position until the bars carrying the batch of leaves referred to have passed-beyond the free ends of the arms 24', and thereafterthe gate is restored to its operative position for lining up or arresting the next batch of leaves advanced by the operator.

As will be apparent, in the described'ar-' rangement, it isimpossible to push the gate out of arresting position by pressure applied the rock shaft.

to the batch of leaves fed forward by the operator, which is a feature of material importance in a hand fed machine such as that disclosed in the accompanying drawing.

4 We provide means for combing out the leaves as they are drawn forward to the stripper rolls or other toothed stripping ele ments, this consisting of a series of fingers 29 extending up through the table or plate 24 in the path of the leaves. These fingers are mounted on a rod or shaft 30 or may be {cast in one piece therewith, and they are under tension of a spring 31 connected with As .the leaves are drawn forward by the gripper bars they pass .be-

tween the fingers of the comb and are spread out or separated one from the other and are rendered in better condition to be acted on by the stripper teeth. As the grip iper, bars pass over the comb they press the same to one side and after the bars pass the combthe same rises to present its fingers for their action on the leaves. I

The driving connections maybe of any suitable form and arrangement, but.in the particular construction shown, 36 indicates the'power shaft which'drives the shafts 37,

38 through gearing39. on these shafts 37,

38 sprocket wheels are mounted, about which pass the gripper bar chains 4, 5.

From a gear 40on the shaft 38 a'sprocket chain 41 passes'around a sprocket wheel 42 on a pin or'stub shaft 43 mountedon the frame. This stub shaft has fixed-thereto a segmental gear 44 which, in acertain point in its revolution, turns the gear 45 valso mounted on a stub shaft '46 and which has fixed, thereto a sprocket wheel 47, which through achain 48 and sprocket wheel 49 drives the lower stripper roll or other element to make it perform its clearing action following its stripping action. The upper stripper roll is driven through a sprocket chain 50 and sprockets 51, 52, the latter being on a stub shaft connected with and driven from the stubshaft 46 through gearing 53. The lower clearing roll 7 is driven through a sprocket chain 54- and suitable sprocket wheels, these in ,turn being driven \through gears 55 and a sprocket chain 56 dependent upon any precise relation as regards movement between the stripping ele ments or the stripping and clearing ele ments.- The inclined stripping teeth are of advantage in the particularcombination of elements disclosed in connection with the gripper bars,.the means for raising and lowering the rolls and the clearing devices. The stripping teeth we prefer to have intermesh 'slightly, that is the ends of the teeth of the lower roll extend slightly above the ends of the teeth of the upper roll. Now when the rollsmove toward each other afterthey have been separated for'the passage of the gripper bars and the butt-ends of the leaf, there has existed heretofore a liability of the teeth becoming damaged by being bent or broken down by coming together or contacting end on with the gripper bars or stems, but with our present arrangement any such damageli's-avoided, because under-contact with each other or with vithe stem or gripper bars the teeth'will simply yield because they are inclined to the vertical plane of approach of the rolls. Furthermore, the stripping rolls need not be separated so far as in thew'as'e of radial teeth,in order to allow the gripper bars to'pass because with the inclined teeththey will simply-wipe. overthe gripper bars if they'contact therewith."- The.

clearing of the rolls by therotating clearing devices is also facilitated by the described formof stripping teeth;

The stripping rolls are cushionedin their action Joy-springs 14'. The stripping rollers havefixed totheir shafts the disks or rolls. 1, whichby rollin down the inclines of the gripper bars regu ate the coming together of the stripping" rolls, and "finally their distance apart. v

Reverting to the throw back roller 20 and its shield 21, this is not intended to engage I each of the leaves but only the droppers. The shield will prevent the leaves, whose stems are strong enough to be drawn through the machine, from coming in contact with the bristlesof the roller. With such leaves therefore, the throw back brush orroller is normally ineffective.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a tobacco stemming machine, a frame, a pair of leaf clamping bars, carriers for advancing the bars in a rectilinear path, a pair of horizontally disposed stripping rolls having their axes located on opposite sides of the path of movement ofthe bars, said rolls being provided with peripheral teeth.extending into the path of movement of the bars, the teeth of each roll extending outwardly in directions substantially radial tothe axis thereof and said teeth comprising inner and outer portions disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and so arranged respecting the axis of the roll that the outer portions of the teeth,'substantially in the path of movement of the bars, are inclined inthe direction of said movement and away from adirect radial line, means for separating the rolls as the bars approach the same and for restoring the rolls to their initial positions as the bars pass, mechanism for advancing the bars and for holding the rolls substantially stationary during the stripping action and for thereafter rotating the same reversely in respect to the travel of the bars for discharging the stripped blades, and a rotating clearing device rotating in the same general direction as the stripping roll with which it coacts, and operating with a movement along the teeth substantially parallel with the length thereof and from the inner portions of the teeth toward their outer ends.

2. In combination in a tobacco stemming machine, stripping elements having teeth inclining forwardly toward their free ends in the direction of movement of the stems and leaves between said teeth, said stripping elements being substantially stationary when the stripping is done, and having a clearing movement to produce a wiping effect on the leaves from the heels of the teeth toward their points, and a clearing roller rotating in the same direction with the direction of rotation of the stripping elements, and having teeth inclined backwardly in respect to the direction of movement of the stripping rollers, and in the same general direction as the incline of the teeth of the stripping elements at the points of engagement therewith, substantially as described.

3. In combination stripping elements, means for drawingthe tobacco stems between said stripping elements, and teeth on the stripping elements having their terminal portion flattened, substantially as described. 4. In combination stripping elements, means for drawing the tobacco stems beas tween said strippingelements, and teeth on the stripping elements having their terminal portion flattened, and their extremities provided with burs, substantially as described.

5. In a tobacco stemming machine and inv combination, companion strlpping elements,

means for conveying tobacco leaves in a substantially rectilinear path to and between said stripping elements whereby the leaf blades are stripped from the stems and discharged at the front of the stripping elements and a rotary separating member isolated from the stripped blades and located in advance of the stripping elements and below the line of feed of the leaves but contiguous thereto for engaging the hanging portions of broken leaves, said member rotating at a speed for completely detaching the hanging portions of the broken leaves and removing the same.

6. In combination in a tobacco stemming machine, stripper elements, a feeding table, bars for engaging the butt ends of the leaves for conveying them from the feed table to and between the stripping elements, a throw-back member for engaging the deending portions of broken leaves and throwing such depending portions back, and a shield for portion of the member.

7. In combination with the stripper elements, and means for operating them, gripper bars for drawing the leaves between the stripper elements and a separator mem- -ving back depending. portions of broken leaves, and said member comprising a roller and substantially radially arranged peripheral projections.

8. In combination stripping elements, gripper bars and means for moving the same, a gate against which the butts of the stems are alined, a carrier for moving the gate vertically substantially transverse to the movement of thegripping bars, means tending to hold the gate in arresting position and surfaces associated with the carrier and operated upon by the gripper bars for shifting the gate out of arresting position.

9. In combination stripping elements, gripper bars with means for moving the same, a vertically movable gate against which the stems are alined, and arms pivotally and yieldingly mounted, said arms carrying the gate and having portions normally projecting into the path of the gripper bars to be depressed thereby, substantially as described.

10. In a tobacco stripping machine, a frame provided with a slot, :1 pair of stripping members, a feed table, endless carriers, two sets-of clamping bars associated therewith for engaging the leaves at the feed table and carrying them to and between the plate andstripping rolls and having por-* tions projecting into the path of movement,

stripping members, arms pivotally mounted on the frame'in a plane between the said of one set of gripping bars whereby the arms are depressed, and an arresting plate p1votally connected at its upper end to the arms and depending through the slot in the frame 11. In a tobacco stripping machine, a frame having a vertical wall, a pair of stripping members, a feed table, two sets of endless carriers, companion clamping bars, one attached to one set of carriers and the other to the other set of carriers, an arresting plate, arms carrying the same pivotally mounted atcorrespondin ends in the frame and having their free en s curved upwardly and rearwardly with portions intersectmg the path of travel of the bar of one set of carriers, said plate'depending verticallybe tween said arms and having a part disposed adjacent said vertical wall of the frame.

12. In a tobacco stripping machine, a frame, a pair of stripping members, a feed table, two sets of endless carriers, companion clamping bars, one attached to one set of carriers and the other to the other set of carriers, an arresting plate, arms carry ing the same pivotally mounted at corresponding ends in the frame and having their free ends curved upwardly and rearwarclly with portions intersecting the path of travel of the bars of one set of carriers, said plate being pivotally connected to the arms in the rear of the aforesaid intersecting portions thereof.

13. In a tobacco stemming machine, in

combination a frame including a table ortop plate, a feeding table arranged with its mouth contiguous to the edge of the first named table, strippin members mounted in the frame a distance om the feeding table, a leaf carrier comprising leaf gripping bars and endless carriers to which the bars are secured, the members of one set of the carriers being located at opposite sides of the frame and having portions moving in .a horizontal plane extending between the stripping rolls, a leaf arresting plate having movement in substantially a verticalv plane, a pair of arms pivotally mounted at corresponding ends to the frame a distance in advance of said plate and contiguousto the line of feed of the leaves, the free ends of said arms extending upwardly and rear- 'leavesand conveying them to and between thestripper elements, means for carrying the bars and a comb having rigid teeth normally projecting in the path of,the gripping bars, said comb being movably mounted vpermitting it to be shifted for permit-5 ting of the passage of the bars, and means tending to maintain the comb in normal position.

15. In a tobacco stemming machine, a frame, companion stripper members mounted therein to move toward and from each other, a carrier including upper and lower chains, a pair of gripping bars secured to the carrier and designed to be moved there- 'by between the stripping members and means for separating the members for the passage of said bars, including companion rocking elementshaving arms r engaging the stripping .membersand other arms interengaging, and a movable device for shifting one of the aforesaid rocking elements and therethrough the other rocking element and means for engaging and shiftin the nnivable device carried by one of said c ains on y. Y

16. In a tobacco stemming machine, a frame, companion stripping members, a carrier comprising upper and lower sets of chains, companion clamping bars extending transversely of the direction ofthe movement of the carrier and secured to the upper and lower chains respectively, said carrier conveying the bars between the stripping -members and means for separating said members actuated by one" set of chains only, said means including strikers on the chains, a movable device mounted independently of -the chains and having an inclined surface for engagement by the strikers in the advancing movement of the chain carrying the same, and other devices actuated by'the movable device for shifting the strip mg members in directions away from eac other. v

17. In a tobacco stemming machine, leaf stripping members having peripheral teeth and means for carrying the leaves between the same comprising carrier chains and companion gripping bars, said bars in clamping osition forming substantially a triangle with the base thereof vertically disposed and'presented in the direction of'the' travel of the bars when in clampingposition. 1

18. In a tobacco stemming machine, leaf stripping members having peripheral teeth,

and means for carrying the leaves "between v the same comprising carrier chains and companion gripping bars, said bars in clamping posltlon formmg substantially av triangle with the base thereof vertically disposed and presented in the directionof'the travel of the bars when in clamping position, the sldesof the bars constituting the sides of the triangle being concave.

19. in a tobacco stripping machine, stripper rolls, means tending to hold the same in leaf engaging; positions, grip bars and carrier means therefor, said grip bars being tapered transversely to a thin edge on their trailing sides, means for separating the stripper rolls, and disks associated with the rolls and cooperating With the tapered surfaces of the bars for controlling the coming together of the rolls after the separation thereof.

In testimony whereof, We afiix our signatures in the presence of the Witnesses.

LOUIS HENRY GERDING. FREDERICK I. BILLINGS.

Witnesses as to Louis Henry Gerding:

M. H. WILLIS, W. F. SHAFFNER.

Witnesses as to Frederick I. Billings:

WM. J. MARSHALL. HENRY J. FARBER. 

